Rhonda Skillern-Jones, left, HISD Board President, along with other school officials, meet with Governor Greg Abbott, center, and Michael L. Williams, Texas commissioner of education at the School at St. George Place Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015, in Houston, Texas. Governor Abbott visited Houston to speak to Pre-K classes as part of his State of the State Tour. ( Gary Coronado / Houston Chronicle ) less

Rhonda Skillern-Jones, left, HISD Board President, along with other school officials, meet with Governor Greg Abbott, center, and Michael L. Williams, Texas commissioner of education at the School at St. George ... more

Photo: Gary Coronado, Staff

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HISD trustee Manuel Rodriguez, Jr. listens to HISD president as she speaks in favor of Mexican American Studies resolution on April 3, 2014, in Houston, Tx. Despite some debate, the HISD Board voted unanimously for a resolution supporting State Board to develop a Mexican American Studies courses. ( Mayra Beltran / Houston Chronicle ) less

HISD trustee Manuel Rodriguez, Jr. listens to HISD president as she speaks in favor of Mexican American Studies resolution on April 3, 2014, in Houston, Tx. Despite some debate, the HISD Board voted ... more

Photo: Mayra Beltran, Staff

HISD incumbent trustees keep seats in runoff

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The two Houston school trustees forced into the Saturday runoff election held onto their seats, maintaining some continuity as the board starts searching for a new superintendent.

School board president Rhonda Skillern-Jones trumped Larry Williams, a pastor seeking the north Houston District 2 seat for the third time, based on unofficial voting results.

The new trustees will take their oaths in January and will be thrust into perhaps the most intense and important process of their terms - selecting a replacement for Superintendent Terry Grier, who plans to step down Feb. 29.

Grier announced his resignation in September, essentially removing his future with the Houston Independent School District as a campaign issue, but his tumultuous tenure has even some of his supporters, like Rodriguez, calling for less volatility.

Zeph Capo, the president of the Houston Federation of Teachers union, said he's unclear if the make-up of the board shifted enough to end the district's high-stakes use of student test scores as he had hoped. The union backed Skillern-Jones and Leal in the runoff.

"It is going to be vitally important that the parents, the teachers and the community members do not sit back and allow nine people to make this decision alone," Capo said of the superintendent search, calling on citizens to "scream from the top of their lungs about what we want for this school district."

The union saw split results in the board races decided in November. Former City Councilwoman Jolanda Jones, backed by the union, won the District 4 seat being vacated by Paula Harris. However, District 8 trustee Juliet Stipeche became the first sitting board member to lose since 1997, falling to Diana Davila, who had held the seat but resigned in 2010.

Skillern-Jones, who ran unopposed in 2011, said she thinks voters were pleased she fought against school closures and oversaw a smooth annexation of the former North Forest school district in 2013.

"The progress is there - it's slow, but it's progress - and we're headed in the right direction," said Skillern-Jones, who was endorsed by now-Mayor Sylvester Turner.

University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus said the unusual dynamics of the November election toughened the race for the incumbents with "anti-establishment" voters mobilized against the city's equal rights ordinance.

"With these board members going to pick the next superintendent, stability is probably good," he added. "That probably kept the incumbents back in their seats."